Christine Carron – Lawyer Supervisor

When PBSC’s chapter at McGill received a request from the Darfur/Sudan Peace Network to help them draft a privacy policy, the student coordinators worried that without a devoted lawyer supervisor for the project, they would have to reject the request and leave the organization struggling for help. Luckily, Christine Carron was only a phone call away. She’s one of Montréal’s top commercial litigation lawyers, and happens to specialize in privacy and access to information at Norton Rose Fulbright.

“Christine was eager to help,” said Tanya De Mello, PBSC’s program coordinator at McGill. “She closely assisted our student volunteer with the research and carefully reviewed it herself. In the end, she helped the Darfur/Sudan Peace Network draft the actual policy in her free time. Our student could not stop telling me how great she was.”

Student volunteers have been praising Christine’s remarkable level of dedication to pro bono work since she first teamed up with PBSC in 2005. “I’ve always had an interest in pro bono,” she says. “Helping people is one of the reasons I became a lawyer. And to get students in the habit of doing pro bono and perceiving it as part of their professional obligations before they’re even called to the bar is a really worthwhile endeavor. It gets lawyers to start off practicing on the right foot.” Recently, Christine has served as the supervising lawyer for PBSC projects at three organizations in Montréal: Action Autonomie, which works to defend the rights of people living with mental health problems; Yaldei, a centre dedicated to helping children with developmental challenges reach their full potential; and MultiCaf, a food bank and cafeteria for low-income residents.

“To get students in the habit of doing pro bono and perceiving it as part of their professional obligations is a really worthwhile endeavor. It gets lawyers to start off practicing on the right foot.”

In addition to her work with PBSC, Christine participates in a number of pro bono initiatives through her firm. One recent project involved helping an international NGO develop a legal model for addressing the problem of violence arising from witchcraft accusations in a number of African nations. It was this outstanding commitment to pro bono—in addition to her day-to-day work with clients such as RBC, Procter & Gamble and the Canadian Bankers Association—that earned Christine a nod from Lexpert as one of the top 25 women lawyers in Canada, and a “Personality of the Week” award from La Presseand Radio-Canada in Québec. As one of the finest legal minds in the country, Christine brings tremendous skill and expertise to her work with students, and PBSC is fortunate and grateful to have her ongoing support.

§When PBSC’s chapter at McGill received a request from the Darfur/Sudan Peace Network to help them draft a privacy policy—the student coordinators worried that without a devoted lawyer supervisor for the project, they would have to reject the request from the organization, leaving the organization struggling for help. Luckily, Christine Carron was only a phone call away. She’s one of Montréal’s top commercial litigation lawyers, and happens to specialize in privacy and access to information at Ogilvy Renault LLP. “Christine was eager and happy to help,” says Tanya De Mello, PBSC’s program coordinator at McGill. “She assisted our student volunteer with the research and reviewed it herself. In the end, she helped the Darfur/Sudan Peace Network draft the actual policy in her free time. Our student could not stop telling me how great she was.”

Student volunteers have been praising Christine’s remarkable level of dedication to pro bono work since she first teamed up with PBSC in 2005. “I’ve always had an interest in pro bono,” she says. “Helping people is one of the reasons I became a lawyer. And to get students in the habit of doing pro bono and perceiving it as part of their professional obligations before they’re even called to the bar is a really worthwhile endeavor. It gets lawyers to start off practicing on the right foot.” [PULL QUOTE] Recently, Christine has served as the supervising lawyer for PBSC projects at three organizations in Montréal: Action Autonomie, which works to defend the rights of people living with mental health problems; Yaldei, a centre dedicated to helping children with developmental challenges reach their full potential; and MultiCaf, a food bank and cafeteria for low-income residents. In addition to her work with PBSC, Christine participates in a number of pro bono initiatives through her firm. One recent project involved helping an international NGO develop a legal model for addressing the problem of violence arising from witchcraft accusations in a number of African nations. It was this outstanding commitment to pro bono—in addition to her day-to-day work with clients such as RBC, Procter & Gamble and the Canadian Bankers Association—that earned Christine a nod from Lexpert as one of the top 25 women lawyers in Canada, and a “Personality of the Week” award from La Presse and Radio-Canada in Québec. As one of the finest legal minds in the country, Christine brings tremendous skill and expertise to her work with students, and PBSC is fortunate and grateful to have her ongoing support.